DUTA, AADTA row over unpaid salaries persists
New Delhi: The ongoing dispute between the NDTF-led DUTA and AADTA persists, causing professors to remain displaced with unpaid salaries.
The National Democratic Teachers Front (NDTF) has laid bare the ongoing challenges faced by the employees of 12 Delhi University (DU) colleges, funded by the Delhi Government.
According to NDTF, the heart of the issue lies in the alleged unethical use of students’ funds to pay employee salaries, leading to a dire financial crisis.
Delhi Government has released Rs 100 crore, which can only cover salaries up to August 2023.
There is still no provision for the payment of September salaries, let alone addressing long-pending dues, including arrears, promotions, medical bills reimbursement, LTC, Children Education Allowance, and Pensionary Benefits. The deficit stands at a staggering Rs 240 crore.
One of the most critical issues affecting these colleges is the absence of arrears and promotions from the 7th pay revision, infrastructure crisis and neglected maintenance further compound the problems.
The non-payment of essential benefits, such as Pensionary Benefits, Medical bills, and Children Education Allowance, has left employees struggling to make ends meet.
NDTF has communicated their concerns to the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister of Delhi through letters, petitions, and memorandums. AK Bhagi, the current DUTA president, has emphasised that the delay in the formation of Governing Bodies for these colleges is not the fault of the teachers but lies with the Department of Higher Education, Government of NCT Delhi.
However Prof Rajesh Jha from Academic for Action and Development Delhi Teachers’ Association (AADTA) posed a bigger question while speaking to Millennium Post, ‘Why hasn’t the salary been paid yet? Can’t the Finance Ministry release funds? It seems like bureaucracy, under the L-G’s control, is intentionally delaying this to blame the Delhi govt.’ AADTA has emphasised that in this political theatre, those 12 colleges under Delhi govt have unwittingly become pawns in a larger game, their educational integrity compromised in pursuit of power.
